All in the Spirit of Fun

The statistics are not yet clear. The Department of Health (DOH) reported that more than six hundred (600) people were injured because of the New Year revelry. Also, it has claimed that at least two (2) children were hit by stray bullets. The Philippine National Police does not contradict the number of persons injured. However, it reported that twenty (20), not only two (2), persons were hit by stray bullets. Three (3) victims of stray bullets have died but only the cases of the two children who were killed in Metro Manila have hit the headlines; the other one which happened in Aklan was given less attention in the media. 

The deaths of the two children are a familiar story but gruesome one. Four-year-old Ranjello Nemor was shot in the back while playing in Mandaluyong City. The perpetrator claimed that the shooting was accidental. Meanwhile, seven-year-old Stephanie Nicole Ella was with her parents outside their home in Caloocan City when a bullet landed into her head and settled in her face. She died in the hospital several hours after. The owner of the gun that propelled the bullet to her head is still unknown to the authorities as of this writing.

Senseless! This is how these acts of violence should be depicted. There is no logic in them. They are inexplicable, except that their perpetrators would claim that they have been caused all in the spirit of fun.

             
             The pain that they have caused is still fresh. Insofar as we are concerned, this pain will pass. Soon, these deaths will become as a mere reminder of the stupidity of the passing year. But in the hearts and memories of the victims’ parents, the pain is forever. It needed not be explained; nobody could argue against that.
             
              Just like any other tragedy, courts will have to deal with these deaths soon—that is, if ever cases are filed against the stupid ones. Most likely, perpetrators will be hailed to court to face the indictment for Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Homicide under Article 265 of the Revised Penal Code. And even if Prosecutors would find it creative and demanding to charge these eggheads with an intentional crime, it is unlikely that any court would pronounce them guilty of anything more than their stupidity. At the end of the day, no court would find them liable to suffer for more than four (4) years imprisonment. Yes, this time the law is soft, but that is the law.
             
               In law, reckless imprudence consists in voluntarily doing or failing to do an act from which material damage results by reason of inexcusable lack of precaution on the part of the person performing or failing to perform such act, taking into consideration his employment or occupation, degree of intelligence, physical condition and other circumstances regarding persons, time and place (art. 365, Revised Penal Code). Strip of legalese, reckless imprudence is simply stupidity in action resulting to the unthinkable loss of lives, or the irreparable loss of one’s future or property. Its perpetrator may deserve to be electrocuted in certain instances; however, the law treats him or her with leniency because of the notion that stupidity is not a crime and that the injuries and losses resulting from it are unintended. Sadly, stupidity is not also a disease, and hence, no cure could be secured for the stupid ones. He or she will continue to inflict loss and injuries even after jail terms fixed by the court for previous misdemeanours.        
               
                 Ranjello Nemor and Stephanie Nicole Ella are dead because of the stupidity of some eggheads. The stupid ones had killed two innocent children in the spirit of fun. No doubt about it. As in the past, the New Year has become an excuse for stupidity to fill the air and for the innocents to shed blood. This has been a tradition. Guns and firecrackers have once again their heyday in the day of the fools.